Rock's Backpages
182 episodes - English - Latest episode: 20 days ago - ★★★★★ - 36 ratingsTales from the world's largest archive of music journalism: entertaining interviews with luminaries such as Neil Tennant, Billy Bragg, Pamela Des Barres, Gary Kemp, Vashti Bunyan, Midge Ure, Nick Hornby and Robyn Hitchcock. Thoughtful and informative conversations about all aspects of popular music history, interspersed with clips from exclusive audio interviews that date back to the mid-'60s.
The RBP podcast is hosted by Barney Hoskyns and Mark Pringle and co-hosted & produced by Jasper Murison-Bowie. We're a proud part of Pantheon — the podcast network for music lovers.
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Episodes
E80: Mary Harron on New York Punk + Tom Verlaine audio + Peter Green R.I.P.
August 03, 2020 16:00 - 1 hourIn this episode we welcome the wonderful Mary Harron, director of cult movies I Shot Andy Warhol and American Psycho. After a brief digression on dating Tony Blair at Oxford, the Canadian relives her memories of the punk rock scene at New York's CBGB club, including her interviews with the Ramones and Talking Heads for John Holmstrom & Legs McNeil's pioneering Punk magazine. Mary also talks about her friendship with ZE's Michael Zilkha and her long fascination with Warhol and the Factory. Alo...
E79: Loyd Grossman, Rock Critic + Brian May audio + (Dixie) Chicks
July 20, 2020 18:00 - 1 hourIn this episode we are joined by self-professed "failed musician" and pasta-sauce mogul Loyd Grossman, OBE, to wax nostalgic about the most important years of his illustrious career: those he spent as a contributor to Fusion, Rolling Stone and other American music papers. Loyd reminisces very amusingly about seminal late '60s shows at the Boston tea party, before explaining how he moved to London and reinvented himself as a British national treasure on TV and in every kitchen in the country. ...
E78: Sheryl Garratt on rave culture + Terry Farley audio + the Streets
July 06, 2020 17:00 - 1 hourIn this week's episode, we welcome former Face editor Sheryl Garratt into RBP's Zoomworld to ask her about rave and club culture – and how we got from disco to acid house to 2020's quarantine raves. Sheryl discusses her newly-reissued/revised 1999 classic Adventures in Wonderland and looks back on her journey from the NME to The Observer. Mark, Barney & Jasper ask her about her seminal 1986 Face piece on Chicago's House scene – and about Ecstasy and 1988's "second summer of love". Clips from...
E77: Geoff Travis on Rough Trade + Scritti Politti's Green Gartside
June 22, 2020 17:30 - 1 hourIn this week's episode, we welcome legendary Rough Trade founder Geoff Travis into RBP's virtual cupboard. Averse to nostalgia though he is, Geoff looks back on the musical odyssey that took him from suburban north London to San Francisco's City Lights bookstore — and then back to Notting Hill Gate, where the Rough Trade story started in 1976. Mark and Barney ask him about the label's many remarkable artists (from the Fall to the Smiths), the Cartel distribution network he set up, and the com...
E76: Gil Scott-Heron + Nina Simone + Public Enemy
June 08, 2020 17:20 - 1 hourIn this week's episode, Mark, Barney and Jasper discuss the role music has played in expressing the pain and rage of Black Americans. Touching on such seminal figures as Nina Simone, Curtis Mayfield and the Last Poets, they listen to clips from a 1976 audio interview with the late Gil Scott-Heron, assessing his militant poetics and the albums he made with Brian Jackson. From there, the RBP team considers interviews with Public Enemy's Chuck D in 1992 and, from 2015, Kendrick Lamar. They also ...
E75: Jonh Ingham's Grand Punk Railroad + John Peel audio + Lady Gaga
June 01, 2020 17:00 - 1 hourIn this week's episode, we welcome the great Jonh Ingham into RBP's "virtual cupboard". In a fascinating conversation, he revisits the peripatetic childhood that took him to California in the '60s – and to San Francisco's Fillmore West, where in 1971 he reviewed a famous Aretha Franklin show for Creem magazine. Mark & Barney ask him about his return to the UK, where he wrote for NME and then Sounds, championing London's nascent punk scene in early '76 and conducting the first interview with t...
E74: Chris Blackwell's Island Records + Sparks + Remembering Phil May
May 25, 2020 16:00 - 1 hourIn this week's episode, Mark, Barney & Jasper talk extensively about one of the great record labels — a hallowed home to such groundbreaking acts as Jimmy Cliff, Nick Drake, Roxy Music, (Bob Marley and) the Wailers and, yes, U2. Listening to clips from John Tobler's 1989 audio interview with Island founder Chris Blackwell, RBP's power trio reflect on what made the label such a powerhouse for non-mainstream genres like folk and reggae. Blackwell talks of its transformation after 1967, as well ...
E73: James Fox on Keith Richards + Little Richard + Betty Wright + Pete Seeger
May 18, 2020 17:00 - 1 hourIn this week's episode, we welcome special guest James Fox, author of 1982's bestselling White Mischief and the man who, ten years ago, made Keith Richards' Life one of rock's outstanding autobiographies. James talks us through his long and distinguished career as a journalist in Africa, and as a features writer during the golden era of The Sunday Times Magazine. He describes how his friendship with "Keef" was cemented by the pieces he wrote for that publication about the Rolling Stones in 19...
E72: Simon Witter on Kraftwerk + Rick Nelson audio + Lisa Verrico
May 11, 2020 16:00 - 1 hourIn this week's episode of the RBP podcast, we pay tribute to Kraftwerk cofounder Florian Schneider, along with Afrobeat linchpin Tony Allen and Stranglers keyboardist Dave Greenfield. The excellent Simon Witter joins us to offer essential expertise on Schneider's vital part in making Kraftwerk the hugely influential group they were, with discussion revolving around our guest's epic MOJO retrospective on the electronica godfathers. RBP's regular triumvirate consider pieces by the week's featur...
E71: Jill Furmanovsky on Photography + Errol Brown audio interview
May 04, 2020 17:00 - 1 hourIn this week's episode, RBP's very own Terrible Trio are joined by the legendary Jill Furmanovsky for a free-ranging conversation about her long career – and about rock photography in general. Jill describes her lucky 1972 break at London's Rainbow Theatre, talks about shooting Pink Floyd and Bob Dylan, and namechecks fellow snappers Pennie Smith and Barrie Wentzell. Discussion follows about free pieces (on Henry Diltz, Dennis Morris, and Barry Feinstein) by Observer photography critic Sean O...
E70: The Who Live at Leeds + KRLA Beat + Ron Sexsmith audio
April 27, 2020 16:00 - 1 hourContent warning: This episode contains discussion of assault (1:02:28–1:05:20) that some listeners may find distressing. In the 70th episode of our podcast, RBP's Zooming triumvirate talk about the Who's Live at Leeds — "the greatest live album ever made," in many people's H.O. — as it reaches its half-century. Referencing Geoffrey Cannon's unabridged Guardian review from May 1970, Mark & Barney relive memories of seeing the Who live and — with Jasper — explore what made the band such a uniq...
E69: Martin Colyer on Greil Marcus + Lucinda Williams + Rufus Wainwright
April 20, 2020 15:30 - 1 hourIn this week's episode, your regular co-hosts are joined for the second time by RBP's original co-founder Martin Colyer, beamed in from Leyton, to offer his invaluable thoughts on Lucinda Williams and Greil Marcus' classic Mystery Train. Williams prompts near-rapturous approval for her 1998 masterpiece Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, with Mark and Barney similarly admiring its southern poetics and Americana-defining country soul. Conversation flows seamlessly into the impact of Marcus' 1975 gam...
E69: Martin Colyer on Greil Marcus + Lucinda Williams + Rufus Wainwright
April 20, 2020 15:30 - 1 hourIn this week's episode, your regular co-hosts are joined for the second time by RBP's original co-founder Martin Colyer, beamed in from Leyton, to offer his invaluable thoughts on Lucinda Williams and Greil Marcus' classic Mystery Train. Williams prompts near-rapturous approval for her 1998 masterpiece Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, with Mark and Barney similarly admiring its southern poetics and Americana-defining country soul. Conversation flows seamlessly into the impact of Marcus' 1975 gam...
E68: Paul Gorman on Malcolm McLaren + R.I.P. Bill Withers & Hal Wilner
April 13, 2020 16:00 - 1 hourIn this week's podcast – the second to be recorded remotely under the lockdown — Mark, Barney & Jasper are joined by special guest Paul Gorman to discuss his long and multi-faceted career — and his epic new biography of Malcolm McLaren. We also hear clips from the week's new audio interview: a 1989 conversation with "Malcy" himself, wherein the former Sex Pistols manager and professional provocateur voices his disdain for the music industry, his becoming an artist in his own right… and his de...
E67: Warren Zevon + Miles Davis' Bitches Brew + Dusty Springfield
April 06, 2020 16:00 - 1 hourAfter its enforced break, the RBP podcast returns for its first remotely-recorded episode. Mark, Barney & Jasper — all splendidly self-isolated, if not entirely locked down — are reunited online to run through everything that's new or free on Rock's Backpages. Noting the sad losses of Cristina, Manu Dibango and Fountains Of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger — all recent victims of the virus – RBP's troika discuss the week's new audio interview, a 2000 conversation with a supremely droll Warren Zevon, ...
E66: Remembering Charlie Gillett + Johnnie Allan audio
March 16, 2020 14:00 - 1 hourIn this week's episode, RBP's self-styled "power trio" pay tribute to the late Charlie Gillett, without whose seminal 1970 book The Sound Of The City Rock's Backpages probably wouldn't exist. It is a decade since we lost Charlie – one of the first RBP writers to come on board, back in 2000 – so we wanted to do justice to the enduring influence of The Sound, as well as to his wonderful "Honky Tonk" radio show, his Oval Records label and his passionate championing of African and other "world" m...
E65: Michael Watts on Melody Maker + Swamp Dogg + Cramps audio
March 09, 2020 14:00 - 1 hourIn this week's episode, Mark & Barney are joined by a not-so-"Anonymous" Michael Watts, who regales his hosts with tales of life as the Walsall Observer's "Mick" Watts before reminiscing about his halcyon days as one of Melody Maker's star '70s scribes. Watts waxes poetic – not to mention humorous – about his encounters with David Bowie, Bob Dylan, the Sex Pistols and others, and about the Maker's rivalry with the N(ew) M(usical) E(xpress). Mark & Barney grill him on the MM's response to punk...
E64: The Meters + Joanna Newsom + Buzzy Linhart audio interview
March 02, 2020 14:00 - 1 hourIn this week's episode, RBP's original "house band" pays homage to New Orleans funkmeisters the Meters, enjoys Frances Morgan's 2004 interview with the 22-year-old Joanna Newsom, and listens to the late Buzzy Linhart telling Steve Roeser about Lenny Bruce's 1964 bust at New York's Café au Go Go. Road-weary veterans Mark & Barney saddle up with hip young gunslinger Jasper to explore the Meters' close involvement with Crescent City maestro Allen Toussaint – and the unique grooves of funk classi...
E63: Neil Tennant on Smash Hits + Pet Shop Boys + Andy Weatherall
February 21, 2020 21:00 - 1 hourIn this week's episode, Mark & Barney invite the ever-entertaining Neil Tennant to look back on his time at Smash Hits magazine — and on how he became pop's ultimate poacher-turned-gamekeeper. Neil talks about mid-'70s London and about interviewing a pudgy Marc Bolan for Marvel UK. He recalls the laughter and irreverence of his 1982-85 stint at Smash Hits before the Pet Shop Boys shot to No. 1 in Britain and then America. After hearing clips of himself speaking to Steven Daly in 1996, he atte...
E62: Bryan Ferry + Prog Rock + John Prine audio interview
February 14, 2020 19:00 - 1 hourIn this week's episode, RBP's power trio reforms to talk about all that's new – and everything that's free – on the site this week. Los tres hombres start with the solo Bryan Ferry, a.k.a. "Byron Ferrari", a.k.a. "Friern Barnet", revisiting the Roxy Music frontman's makeover as a dinner-jacketed lounge lizard and aspiring country gentleman. They then mark the publication of Mike Barnes' Prog-Rock magnum opus A New Day Yesterday with a free-ranging chinwag about the pros and cons of said genr...
E61: Colleen "Cosmo" Murphy on David Mancuso and Lydia Lunch
February 07, 2020 19:00 - 1 hourIn this week's episode, Mark and Barney are joined by the delightful Colleen "Cosmo" Murphy to mark the 50th anniversary of David Mancuso's legendary first Loft party in New York City. Colleen talks about her friendship with Mancuso and about her own musical journey as a revered DJ (not to mention host of Classic Album Sundays). Barney notes the week's featured writer Daryl Easlea — and specifically his pieces on Elvis Presley the movie star and (tying in with this week's reissue of his excel...
E60: Dorian Lynskey on Daft Punk, Can Audio Interview ... and Brexit
January 31, 2020 20:04 - 1 hourIn this week's episode, we wave a sad goodbye to the EU with the aid of Dorian Lynskey, Guardian contributor, author of 33 Revolutions Per Minute and The Ministry Of Truth, and host of the excellent Remainiacs podcast. Dorian talks Mark, Barney & Jasper through his stellar career in music writing, focusing on his interviews with German superstar Paul van Dyk and French electro-House robots Daft Punk. Dorian also discusses Remainiacs on the eve of the Brexit countdown, and the four remoaners c...
E59: Laura Barton on Road Trips + Sam Cooke + Isobel Campbell
January 17, 2020 20:05 - 1 hourIn this week's episode, Mark & Barney welcome the wonderful Laura Barton and learn all about her career as a star Guardian writer – and as an author and broadcaster. Laura talks about her travels in America, and about working with photographer Sarah Lee on the newly-published collection West Of West. The hosts ask her about her pieces on Bon Iver, Daniel Johnston and Riot Grrrl power – and more generally about her deeply personal approach to music writing. A new Sam Cooke box set prompts a co...
E58: James Blood Ulmer + Joan Baez audio + Chris Bourke
January 10, 2020 19:55 - 1 hourIn the first episode of 2020, Mark, Barney & Jasper celebrate the 40th birthday of James Blood Ulmer's startling Are You Glad to be in America? Pringle waxes lyrical about seeing Ulmer live and about the man's influence on his own guitar-playing – and then, with his colleagues, discusses the "punk-jazz" scene that coalesced around JBU, James Chance, Defunkt and others. RBP's power trio then considers amusing interviews with Billy Idol, Gerry [and the Pacemakers] Marsden and Solomon Burke by N...
E57: Aretha's Amazing Grace + Mark Ronson audio + Tom Cox
December 20, 2019 17:00 - 1 hourIn this week's episode – the last of 2019 – Mark, Barney & "Jazzbo" see out the year by celebrating the sheer majesty of Aretha Franklin and the posthumously-released Amazing Grace documentary. Featured writer Tom Cox provides the perfect segue: a 1999 piece about the Queen Of Soul and her Atlantic Records producer/mentor Jerry Wexler. Your hosts also enjoy a chuckle as they revisit Tom's 2004 piece on Apple's new GarageBand "workstation". Attention then turns to a 2007 audio interview with u...
E56: Kris Needs on The Clash + Zigzag magazine + Politics & Pop
December 13, 2019 20:15 - 1 hourOn the day after the UK's Tory landslide, Mark & Barney ask the legendary Kris Needs to look back at the legacy of ultimate agit-rockers the Clash on the 40th anniversary of their classic London Calling. Needs reminisces about key music venue Friar's in Aylesbury and his involvement with (and subsequent stewardship of) Pete Frame's seminal ZigZag magazine. His hosts ask about Just a Shot Away, Part 1 of his memoir of the pivotal rock year of 1969, and then discuss his integral involvement wit...
E55: David Toop on art and sound + Arthur Russell + Joe Smith R.I.P.
December 06, 2019 08:00 - 1 hourMark & Barney invite writer and fearless musical improviser David Toop to reminisce about his work and his long and fascinating career. Toop talks about the impact of an aunt returning from New York with a stack of rhythm & blues 78s – and how this instilled a lifelong love of black American music. After he describes his early adventures in free and improvised music, his hosts ask how a man who's collaborated with Brian Eno and Max Eastley came to profile Bros for The Face – by way of his pio...
Barbara Charone on The Who + Keef Richards + Chelsea FC
November 22, 2019 19:30 - 1 hour - 57.2 MBRock's Backpages (http://www.rocksbackpages.com) is the world's only comprehensive archive of music journalism. Every week, Barney Hoskyns and Mark Pringle pick their highlights among the 50+ new pieces added to the database, and present an exclusive excerpt from the week's new audio interview. Many thanks to special guest Barbara Charone; MBC is online at mbcpr.com. Hosted by Barney Hoskyns and Mark Pringle Produced by Jasper Murison-Bowie Pieces discussed: Keith Richards, The ...
E54: Barbara Charone on The Who + Keef Richards + Chelsea FC
November 22, 2019 19:30 - 1 hourIn this week's episode, Mark & Barney welcome music scribe turned PR legend Barbara Charone into the RBP "cupboard" (© David Hepworth) and ask her about moving to London from her native Chicago in 1974 – along with her experiences of interviewing the Who, the Stones and other superstars of the '70s. "BC" talks about befriending Keith Richards and writing his biography while staying at his Sussex home, Redlands, then reminisces about her move into PR and her decades-long association with such ...
E53: John Fogerty audio + Peter Guralnick + Céline Dion
November 15, 2019 18:30 - 1 hourIn this week's episode Mark, Barney & Jasper discuss the work of American music writer Peter Guralnick, with reference to the three free interviews featured on Rock's Backpages this week. They talk about the impact of Guralnick's books about southern soul and Elvis Presley, along with his earlier profiles of Howlin' Wolf and Charlie Rich. RBP's power trio then turns its attention to super-diva Céline Dion, subject of the week's free feature. Barney defends the empress of pop shlock against hi...
E52: Gene Clark + Mick Hucknall + Mick Brown on Spector & Soul
November 08, 2019 19:30 - 1 hourIn this week's episode, Mark & Barney invite the marvellous Mick Brown to reminisce about his journey from editing mid-'60s fanzine Soulbeat to feature-writing for the Guardian and the Telegraph, via stints at Sounds and Street Life. Mick recalls his encounters with Marvin Gaye, Mac Rebennack and Phil Spector, subject of his seminal 2008 biography Tearing Down the Walls of Sound. He also weighs in on Gene Clark's cult classic No Other, of which he was an early champion on its 1974 release. He...
E51: Bonnie Raitt + The Pop Group + Caroline Sullivan on the Bay City Rollers
November 01, 2019 19:15 - 1 hourIn this week's episode Mark & Barney welcome special guest Caroline Sullivan and hear all about her journey from New Jersey to the republic of Brightonia, discussing in the process her poptastic pieces about Girls Aloud, Adele and Courtney Love's optioning of her classic Bay City Rollers book. Jasper then rejoins the band as Caroline, citing "artistic differences", splits the crazy scene and heads back to Brighton. Talk turns to the week's other free pieces, which mark the 40th anniversary of...
E50: Snoop Dogg + Motörhead + Nick Tosches tribute
October 25, 2019 18:20 - 55 minutesIn this week's episode (the 50th, no less), Mark, Barney & Jasper pay tribute to the late Nick Tosches, discussing pieces by him on Captain Beefheart (1981) and his great biographical subject Jerry Lee Lewis (1982). They then discuss the week's other free pieces, which concern the annus metallibis that was Motörhead's 1979 – the year of both Overkill and Bomber. They also lament the passing of original 'head guitarist Larry Wallis, who last month departed the stage for the final time. The wee...
E49: INXS' Michael Hutchence + Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood
October 18, 2019 19:00 - 1 hourIn this week's episode of the RBP podcast, cocktail-lounge trio Mark, Jasper & Barney kick things off by discussing Oz rockers INXS. Ahead of the release of new documentary Mystify, they consider the tragic death of frontman Michael Hutchence. The week's featured writer is Tim Riley, whose articles on roots rock, 2 Live Crew and Buddy Holly's influence on John Lennon spark discussion of the intersection between nostalgia and authenticity, the disproportionate censorship of black voices... and...
E48: Ginger Baker audio + Elbow with David Hepworth
October 11, 2019 19:00 - 1 hourIn this week's episode of the RBP podcast, Mark Pringle and Barney Hoskyns are joined by special guest David Hepworth to talk about his experiences as a journalist, editor, publisher and now bestselling author. In a free-ranging conversation, your hosts hear how Dave got his start at the bottom of the NME totem pole before joining the nascent Smash Hits under Nick Logan. They also discuss his longstanding friendship with Mark Ellen, from founding Q, MOJO and The Word to presenting The Old Gre...
E47: Loleatta Holloway audio + Robert Hunter R.I.P. + Phil Symes
October 04, 2019 19:00 - 1 hourContent warning: This episode contains a description of violence that some listeners may find distressing. In this week's episode of the Rock's Backpages podcast, RBP's Mark, Barney & Jasper pay tribute to Robert Hunter, discussing his role within the Grateful Dead and how he helped unlock Jerry Garcia's voice with his lyrics. Featured writer for the week is Phil Symes with three articles: Neil Diamond is mocked and disparaged by your hosts; a young Michael Jackson talks on the phone about hi...
E46: The Beatles' Abbey Road + Blondie audio with Mat Snow
September 27, 2019 20:00 - 1 hourIn this week's episode of the Rock’s Backpages podcast, Mark & Barney are joined by the "Fab"-ulous Mat Snow to discuss the 50th anniversary of Beatles swansong Abbey Road. Mat also regales them with his tale of setting off a firework in the NME reviews office... plus his further adventures in the world of music journalism (including a pivotal stint as editor of MOJO). The week's audio interview is a 1977 conversation with Blondie, so the trio hear a clip of Debbie Harry recalling her life as...
E45: Madonna audio interview + Sugarhill Gang's 'Rapper's Delight'
September 20, 2019 18:30 - 1 hourn this week's episode, RBP's original power trio is reunited as Barney Hoskyns returns from holiday, joined by Mark Pringle and Jasper Murison-Bowie. Los tres hombres commence with a discussion of the Sugarhill Gang's groundbreaking 'Rapper's Delight', considering its place in the history of hip hop with reference to three contemporary articles about the record. The week's featured writer is Hit Parader's girl-about-town in swinging '60s London, Miranda Ward, whose scenester piece on Otis Red...
E44: Simon Witter on Cameo, Zapp & House + Robbie Robertson audio
September 13, 2019 20:00 - 1 hourIn this week's episode of the RBP Podcast, Mark Pringle and Jasper Murison-Bowie are joined by Mr. Simon Witter to talk about his career in music journalism, from Zapp to acid house by way of Cameo and his forays into the early days of Chicago house with pioneering DJs Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy. Simon's interviews with Larry Blackmon and Roger Troutman inform conversation about afro-futurist funk and D.C.'s go-go music. The trio also discuss what kinds of powders taste better dissolved ...
E43: The Story of Electronic Music + Slade + Status Quo with David Stubbs
September 06, 2019 16:02 - 1 hourIn this week's episode of the RBP Podcast, Mark Pringle and Jasper Murison-Bowie are joined by David Stubbs to talk about his book Mars By 1980, which traces the story of electronic music from its beginnings in the mechanical experiments of the late nineteenth century through Stockhausen and musique concrète to Stevie Wonder's cosmic funk, the 80s electropop of bands like Depeche Mode and beyond. Mark and Jasper hear how David got his start at Melody Maker after co-founding Oxford magazine Mo...
E42: Dusty Springfield + Alicia Keys + Taylor Swift with Lucy O'Brien
August 30, 2019 18:00 - 58 minutesIn this week's episode of the RBP podcast, Mark & Barney are joined by She Bop queen Lucy O'Brien to discuss her life in journalism – from her days distributing Spare Rib magazine at her convent school to being a member of the "soulcialist" faction at the NME. They explore how creeping consumerism and confusion about the paper's identity caused it to lose much of what set it apart, precipitating its eventual demise. To celebrate the new revised and updated edition of Lucy's classic Dusty Spri...
E41: Easy Rider + Arthur Lee with Richard Williams
August 23, 2019 19:00 - 1 hourIn this week's episode, Barney Hoskyns and Jasper Murison-Bowie are joined by Richard Williams to discuss his long and august career in music journalism, from his writing about avant-jazz giant Albert Ayler for his local Nottingham newspaper through his stewardship of Melody Maker to his time as the Guardian's chief sportswriter. The three men talk about Ayler and the great Laura Nyro, as well as about Richard's early interview with Bob Marley, at whose UK label (Island) Richard became Head ...
E40: Ian Penman on Prince + Charlie Parker + ZZ Top audio
August 16, 2019 19:00 - 1 hourIn this week's episode of the Rock's Backpages Podcast, Jasper Murison-Bowie and Barney Hoskyns are joined by the great Ian Penman to discuss his new essay collection It Gets Me Home, This Curving Track – along with his late '70s/early '80s years at the NME and his subsequent writing for The Wire and the London Review of Books. Thus commences a wide-ranging conversation about everything from Frank Sinatra to Charlie Parker to Prince, via John Fahey, Nina Simone and Kate Bush. Along the way, ...
E39: Tammy Faye Starlite does Marianne Faithfull + Miles & more
August 09, 2019 17:00 - 1 hourIn this week's episode, Mark & Barney are joined by American singer/performance artiste extraordinaire Tammy Faye Starlite to talk about grande dame of British art-pop Marianne Faithfull. Tammy discusses her upcoming run of New York shows based around Faithfull's 1979 classic Broken English – plus the week's new audio interview, with the lady herself. The trio mull over Faithfull's relationships and/or friendships with Keith Richards, Mick Jagger and Anita Pallenberg. They also discuss parall...
E38: Woodstock '69 + Shirley Collins + Mark Anthony Neal
August 02, 2019 16:30 - 1 hourContent warning: This episode contains references to sexual violence and domestic abuse. Following the cancellation of Woodstock 50, regular RBP podcast hosts Mark Pringle & Barney Hoskyns are joined by occasional host Jasper Murison-Bowie to discuss the legacy of those fateful three days in August 1969. RBP's very own power trio considers contemporary reports that paint contrasting pictures: Danny Goldberg's positive story for Billboard, Miller Francis Jr.'s altogether more sanguine account ...
E37: Glen Campbell, Jimmy Webb and The Wichita Lineman with Dylan Jones
July 26, 2019 16:00 - 1 hourJoined by GQ editor (and sometime i-D contibutor) Dylan Jones, Mark and Barney talk about Dylan's new book The Wichita Lineman: Searching in the Sun for the World's Greatest Unfinished Song and celebrate 'Lineman''s composer Jimmy Webb and the song's original singer, the late Glen Campbell. Dylan explains how he came to write the book and the three men enthuse about Webb's ability to tell stories in song and in person. After listening to a clip from a 2005 audio interview with Webb himself, w...
E36: KLF + Echo & the Bunnymen + Julian Cope with Mick Houghton
July 19, 2019 17:00 - 1 hourThis week, Mark and Barney are joined by Mick Houghton, Let It Rock and Sounds scribe turned beloved publicist for Echo & the Bunnymen, the Teardrop Explodes and the KLF. Discussing Mick's new book Fried and Justified, Barney addresses Mick's rage at a bad NME review of Julian Cope's World Shut Your Mouth written by... Barney himself. The three of them listen to excerpts from an unwieldy but fascinating conversation between New Orleans R&B legends Dave Bartholomew, Red Tyler and Earl Palmer, ...
E35: P. Funk Special + Hal David audio with Lloyd Bradley and Tom Vickers
July 12, 2019 17:00 - 1 hourIn this week's episode, Mark and Barney are joined by not one but two guests. Lloyd Bradley and Tom Vickers tell the story of how they first met, Lloyd blagging his way into a singles-reviewing session with George Clinton at Blues and Soul magazine when Tom was Parliament's publicist and self-dubbed "Minister of Information". This gives rise to a lengthy discussion about all things Parliamentary and Funkadelical, with Lloyd explaining how he morphed from sneaking into gigs to a long and illus...
E34: Amy Linden on Amy Winehouse + Kanye West + Nico + Bobby Womack
July 05, 2019 16:00 - 1 hourIn this week's episode, Mark Pringle and Barney Hoskyns welcome special guest Amy Linden to reminisce about reading Creem at her local library and falling in with the punk scene in San Francisco in the late '70s... and then about writing for Vibe, Spin and XXL. Amy shares stories of chasing Amy Winehouse and detesting Kanye West. The trio listen to excerpts from a 1976 Bobby Womack audio interview in which the maverick soul man – who died five years ago this week – talks about recording at Mu...
E33: L.A. Special with Chris Campion + Elliot Roberts audio + Little Feat
July 02, 2019 17:00 - 59 minutesIn this week's episode, Barney Hoskyns and Mark Pringle are joined by Chris Campion all the way from Pioneertown, California. The subject of Chris' upcoming book, John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas, leads into a wide-ranging and discursive conversation about L.A. in the '60s and the music and madness of Arthur Lee and Charles Manson. Continuing the Southern California theme, the three men hear excerpts from a 1993 audio interview with the late Elliot Roberts in which the legendary manag...